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Sighing at people

November 21st, 2014 at 01:56 am

So my no sugar, meat, dairy = vegan diet is still one. One more week and it's been eye opening. I've lost a little over 10 lbs. We'll see how this eating change goes long term. I am thinking about doing 100 days of real food next. I have to say it's been great for the eating out budget but bad for the grocery budget I believe I'm over our $500/month allotment and it's still another 10 days and a house guest. But our eating out budget is under $50 and I usually budget $300.

Why am I sighing at people? Well first I was in line at whole foods buying a Kabocha Pumpkin (required for diet). Only thing I bought and I was standing in line behind a woman who spent $270. Well it took three credit cards and breaking it down to afford it. Seriously? Why are you shopping at whole paycheck if you can't afford to pay for it?

I was in a discussion about finances (well I nodded) with a couple of friends since one of them just bought a new car. One friend said to the other "I try to pay a little more than the minimum on my CC, and one of my four weekly paychecks goes to my car loan." Okay my eyes nearly fell out considering the woman drives the supersize Mercedes SUV that seats 7 diesel. She said her husband picked it because he loves diesel engines. Seriously 25% of your income a month is for your car? The other woman said it hurt to have a car payment of $1k/month. I was stunned with another sigh.

Finally DH's best friends came over on Sunday for dinner and talked about buying a house he'd just seen over the weekend. His wife lives cross country and is planning on moving in February at 32+ weeks pregnant. He's in a mad rush to buy so he said "how bad would it be to make an offer on a house she hadn't seen?" My answer "if it were my DH, he should next talk to a divorce lawyer because making our biggest financial decision without me would piss me off." He said "but we could lose out on a great house. Another sigh.

But the follow up, two days later he said he'd made a mistake and decided he couldn't buy in that town because the school district was worse than he thought. So rushing to buy a house would have lead to a terrible decision.

Another friend who complained to me about my "staying at home raising kids," said she couldn't afford to do it on her husband's income. At least not the lifestyle they want. They just bought a $10k miele fridge and have $100k worth of cars in their driveway (Acura MDX and Honda Pilot). So it's not like they are hurting financially. Nor would one income be small. It'd just be more modest. I would guess $200k versus $400k. I bit my tongue and didn't say well many people stay at home on less. I can't talk because we make equivalent to their one income. But I know there are many people who make less and stay at home with nice lives.

Finally my BIL is coming with his ex girl friend to our place for thanksgiving. Not his current gf. Good thing I "clarified" so I don't out him. Besides the fact that he got into a car accident a couple days ago and totalled his car and is now saying he wants to buy a BMW. My DH is trying to convince him that he should at least buy it used.

These are the unreal stories around me. There are others but perhaps I should save some for another day.

4 Responses to “Sighing at people”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1416536907

    Okay...my jaw just dropped at $1k car payment!!

  2. Nika Says:
    1416583447

    1K car payment is pretty insane. If you are rich enough to buy a car like that, you should be able to put down a lot of cash and not finance the entire thing.

    Plus, when you cross into the "luxury" territory, there is a huge increase in the maintenance cost, parts cost, and everything else associated with that car. That was the reason we did not buy a luxury vehicle and stuck with the high end Toyota. The sticker price difference was not significant enough, but maintenance cost over the years would add to that price significantly. Plus having to use premium.

    It is fun to fantasize though. If I was really rich, I'd buy a Tesla. Not practical in our current situation, of course.

    But as to your other points. Yes, what these people buy seems to be off way off balance for their income. Is it only bad to be unbalanced in one direction?
    Life (time) is also a limited commodity to be enjoyed, and I don't think saving every cent you can as an ultimate virtue. Enjoying life now AND in retirement is my aspiration. It all depends on goals I think. If your goal is to save X for something (retirement, year off, emergency fund, your child's education, etc.) if you meet X, how obsessed should one get with going above X? If one makes 200K, one should be able to relax when it comes to groceries (unless car and house expenses are out of line).

  3. ND Chic Says:
    1416617658

    I'm right there with you. Sometimes our friends make financial decisions that really make me question what they are thinking. 25% for a vehicle payment is insane.

  4. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    1416624801

    $1k/month car payment is not hard to do when you buy a $50k car which is Honda Pilot, Acura MDX, Volvo SUV. That's not even touching the more expensive cars like BMW, Audi, Benz SUVs and sedans.

    No Nika I don't think that it's wrong to enjoy life. But for us enjoying life on a budget is key, no matter how much we make because we want to be financially independent. Meaning it doesn't matter if we work or not. Many people have FU money but I want to be not dependent on the money coming in. Sooner rather than later.

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